"I guess switching it up is a part of football. I thought they did well tonight. Other than, maybe winning the game. It is the most solid we have looked, limiting a pretty potent team to just a couple of chances. I think having said that we didn't look as dangerous as I think we've looked at home at times. It's a fine line. We had chances tonight, you know some good looks. I think if Mike slips it by the last defender he gets a good chance. I think Quincy had a good shot from a decent angle. I was pleased with the whole overall the defensive unit. I think Patrick [Ianni] and Jeff [Larentowicz] did a good job."

On reports of signing Jermaine Jones

"We have interest in the player, for sure. You know we have spoken to the agent. At this point there is nothing to add until someone agrees or it gets concluded. The truth in the matter is we have interest in the player, but nothing has been finalized yet. That's all I can kind of say on that."

On the decision to not start Harry Shipp

"He’s just tired. I had a good chat with Harry. I think he looked a bit tired, not in the Tottenham game, but the San Jose game, everyone looked tired. They hit a bit of a wall, these young guys, when they come into the league, and I think he just hit a bit of a wall. But, I think he looked fresh when he came on, so that was good, and we will decide what to do on the weekend. It was for resting and just getting him fresh.”

On Razvan Cocis’ debut

"I think he did okay against Tottenham, its hard, he's not really trained with us. He's been doing his own work. We have been away on a road trip and we came back, and we’ve not really trained because we played three games in a week. He's clean and simple and once he gets his legs under and becomes part of the team, it will be a lot easier for him.

On the direction of the Fire after multiple ties

“Where do we go from here? Trying to get a win is the next plan. It is what it is. We’re obviously not ready to go and take a game over and win, because we would’ve done that by now. Not losing is sometimes a good thing, but at this point in the season we need to win. I think that tonight was a good opportunity to do that, and we didn’t quite do it. I thought we played a pretty good game all around, without being really dynamic in the final third; and that’s what wins games. Another big one coming up in the weekend; we’re still kind of in the picture, and so that’s the most important thing for the club.”

On the health of Patrick Nyarko

“I just spoke to him tonight, and he’s still struggling a little bit. He was getting his ankle scoped the next week, and he did his knee in the KC game, and that’s what he’s been out with for two to three months. Yeah, we miss Patrick; I said to him tonight, ‘I haven’t seen you for two or three months,’ You know, you miss quality, and he’s a quality player. I think he may have maybe made a difference a little bit tonight. But you can’t stop injuries, and that’s the way it goes with him.”

On Mike Magee and Quincy Amarikwa playing together

“I think tonight they played closely together, and it was better than it has been. The forwards should be closely together if they’re playing as a twin pair. I always like them to be underneath or working off each other. I thought they did a better job; again, if Mike slips by a guy and scores, and then Quincy has that chance where Mike plays him in and all of a sudden you’re sitting there and they’ve done well. It’s a work in progress; we have to make sure that we stick with it and try to keep going because it’s all we have at the moment.”

On the amount of draws

“You’re not playing for a tie, that’s the big thing. We put people in to change the game, and so did they. They’re putting on their players to try and get a goal, and we’re putting on our guys to try and get a goal. I can’t put a finger on it. Sometimes you tie a lot of games in the season, and you don’t know why, sometimes you win a ton, and you’ve played the same as you would have done if you had gotten the ties, and it looks like you’re doing great. I think we’ve played well enough to get more wins out of the ties, but maybe there should be some losses in there, which means more points. I don’t know, I can’t put a finger on it. I will say, we’re trying hard, and I think we’ve made some strides. We had a clean sheet tonight, which is important, so that was good.”

Chicago Fire goalkeeper Sean Johnson

On the defensive performance:

“I thought we were very organized, we didn’t allow many chances and kept everything in front of us. I think we were able to play a bit more out of the back, which helped us with possession and going forward. We were able to deal with the pressure teams have been able to put on us, so overall the performance was good.”

On Jeff Larentowicz’s performance on the backline

“I thought he was great. Jeff’s a leader and he leads by example – he’s great to have back there. You saw in the first half that he blocked a shot for me that was one that was going to be difficult to deal with. He throws himself into difficult spots, which is good, you always want that from a defender. He’s aggressive and it’s always good to have him in front of me.”

On the third clean sheet of the season:

“You always want to work on keeping the ball out of the back of the net. For us it’s a building block coming off the San Jose performance, we just wanted to make sure that we got back there and really focused on the little things. For us defensively, that was getting back on track, and getting a shutout after a game like that is great for us.”

Chicago Fire defender and captain Jeff Larentowicz

On playing on the back line:

“I thought we did alright. A shutout is good. I haven’t gotten much training back there, but it’s a place I’ve played before for a number of years so I’m pretty comfortable and I felt alright.”

On the clean sheet restoring confidence in the defense:

“Clean sheets are good. However we want to play, we have to work as a unit. Whether it’s me or anybody else – you have to communicate, you have to work well with each other. I think that’s what we did tonight, and I think that’s what we didn’t do in San Jose. I don’t think it was just a backline issue, I think it was kind of everybody. Tonight, for sure, we worked together and communicated. Good defenses make the goal keeper’s job easy and I think we did that for Sean tonight.”

On Jermaine Jones potentially joining the team and his role if that happens:

“I want to be on the field, I don’t mind where it is. He’s a good player and we love to have good players on our club. If that’s the truth, great. I just want to be on the field wherever I can help, I don’t mind where it is, he’s a good player.”

On what Jones would bring to the team:

“It would be good [to bring in Jones]. He’s got tons of experience. It’s good to have experienced guys, it’s good to have guys with strong character on your team. I’ve been around him very little, but he’s a very good player, he’s a tough guy and that would help. Wherever he goes, he’ll do well in the league.”

Chicago Fire midfielder Razvan Cocis

On his first competitive match at Toyota Park:

“It feels great, but we didn’t win this game, so I only have a little reason to be happy. It’s good to be on the field, but I’m not happy with the result.”

On how he’s been treated by the team:

“The team has treated me very nicely and kindly. I knew American people are kind and welcome everybody. Everybody has been nice to me and asking me questions like I was one of them from the first day.”

On choosing Chicago and his plans to stay in MLS:

“I don’t know if I chose [Chicago], I had this offer and I took it. I hope to stay in MLS, that’s why I came here. When I came here, I came to stay of course.”

Vancouver Whitecaps FC head coach Carl Robinson

On the team’s effort today:

“I could have predicted [the tie] before the game. I think you guys could too. Frank the same so, but yeah we’re disappointed. Think it was a game we could have won. I’m sure Frank will feel the same as well. We played on Sunday, difficult for us to come to the east coast, but the boys showed a lot of blood, guts, and thunder if I am honest. They couldn’t have given me any more effort that then did today. I think we had our best period of the game in the first twenty minutes of the second half. We controlled the game. We ended up getting probably the best chance of the game but we couldn’t take it. I won’t fault a single player because they’ve been absolutely fantastic. Today, as well as all season.”

On another tie:

“You’re right, it is frustrating. You win one, you lose one, and it’s probably better off doing that than being unbeaten in four. I’m not happy with the draw, but we’ll take the draw because the performance, the effort was there from the guys. We move on. We got a big game in ten days time.”

Collecting a point on the road:

“You always want to try to win games. Frank probably is saying the same as well. It’s an opportunity for him as a home game. We are in a run at the moment where we are drawing a lot of games. But it’s a fine line this game. It really is, between winning and losing. I think you see that, especially today because it was an okay game, but it wasn’t a great game to watch. We had a great game to watch on Sunday, because playing against Dallas, and we ended up with a draw as well. It’s the same result unfortunately, but probably two different performances.”

Vancouver Whitecaps FC forward Omar Salgado

On the match:

“It was a hard fought match. Zero-zero’s are always hard fought games. Chicago is a good team, and we came in here knowing who we are playing, and it’s good to get a clean sheet.”

On the draw being a fair result:

“Yes, I feel so. Both teams had their chances. I feel like we had the clear chance with Eric, and if we put that away, it’s a one-zero game, and we take it away.”

On his performance:

“It was good. I feel like I was able to get the ball a little more than against Salt Lake and I tried to put the ball in to the box. It was a good team performance overall. “

On turning ties into wins:

“Yes, just score goals, obviously. We’ve had our chances. Last game we had over 30 so, we just need to score our chances.”

Vancouver Whitecaps FC goalkeeper David Ousted

On the match:

“I thought it was a story of two teams trying but not really getting there. Both teams really wanted to go for it, but the ability just wasn’t there today.”

On being too cautious and not pushing for the win:

“No…that’s why I say the ability was missing a little bit. I don’t think it was fear on our part, but I think we said in the locker room we wanted to try to go and get the win. We need the win. I think Chicago was the same way. It was a lot of trying but not a lot of succeeding.”

On the team’s defensive performance:

“Yes, I thought we did well. It’s always nice to get a clean sheet, especially away from home. But it’s finding the balance of doing well both defensively and offensively in the same game. We’re still looking for that.”

On getting out of the tie rut:

“There is. Go get a win. That’s the easiest way. I think we are there. I think the little details are there. Once we get a win, we will get over the hump.”

On it being more of a mental game than a physical game to register a win:

“I think it’s a little bit of both. It’s physical, when you’re coming here, after playing a game on Sunday, traveling then, and coming to Chicago which is a tough place to play. But it also mentally, getting over that hump, and doing the little things correctly and getting that win. It would be nice for us.”

On facing off against Sporting KC:

“Another really tough match. Now we are getting into a bye week. A little weekend off here. That’s going to be really nice for us. We need it. And then KC at home. Big game for us. A game we have a good chance of winning.”

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“No, it was not easy to get this result. We played against Kansas City on Sunday, went to Atlanta for an Open Cup game a couple of days later, and then came here for a tough league match. To get two wins and a tie out of these last few games is fantastic. We went to the quarterfinals of the Open Cup where we saw some great competition and then came here and got three points. I would say this has been a successful week.

Sean (Johnson) has been outstanding these past four or five games. He’s a young goalkeeper and he’s finally starting to have really good performances and he’s also starting to look the part. Things like this make the difference and it was the reason we won tonight. Although it was a great penalty that was taken, Sean also made a great save that was able to keep us ahead in the game.

I don’t think we deserved to draw as many games as we have. When we drew against the Revolution at home we missed a penalty like you guys did tonight. It’s a great thing for us to win tonight, in conference, because of the tough week we had, but we did very well. I was proud of the way we played, even though the second half was a little bit ugly and they were all over us. In the end, we were able to seal it out and get a win. We got it done as a group and that’s what is important.

My philosophy is to start quickly and try to score first. If you can do that, I believe that you can usually get a draw. My big thing is to get after it in the beginning, and we did. Mike [Magee] and Quincy [Amarikwa] were really lively in the first half and it went well. I thought we could have scored more goals, but you know, that’s how soccer is. I’m happy we got the win.

Quincy did the same thing against New England at home. He’s a very strong player that knows how to use his body the right way. Along with that being said, our squad was rotated a lot during these past three games. Everyone performed well. I tip my hat to them because the full squad of 18 has been doing well and it’s shown in our results.”

Chicago Fire forward Quincy Amarikwa

“It’s really important, especially if you can come away on the road and get a win and get three points. I mean that’s huge, especially in this league. We’ve just been right on the cusp of breaking out this year. We’ve got a lot of draws but that just means we’re hard to beat, as proved by tonight. And hopefully it translates into more wins and we jump to the top of the table.

Everything is about building momentum. I think we’ve been doing the right things. We’ve been working hard as a unit. We’re really sacrificing ourselves out there and it translated into three points tonight, and hopefully we’ll carry that into our next game.

I was hoping to catch them flat-footed. I think there were two or three opportunities where I picked the back line or their holding defensive midfielder and I don’t think they were ready for it. Luckily, we were able to capitalize early and prevent them from scoring.

Sean made a huge save. We always like our goalies to save everything they’re supposed to and save at least one or two that they’re not supposed to a game. Sean came out on top doing that big time for us. I think that will further boost morale and keep us going in the right direction.

I’m more trying to predict at what speed and strength [the defender] is going to be coming in, and you lean in one direction to compensate for that so that by the time he hits you, he’s kind of hitting you upright. It’s a balancing act. You learn the strength of each player on the field as you’re playing. You try to – almost like a chess match – you try to outplay them.

I think though I make runs in behind and I get runs in behind, I’m fairly decent at my hold up play and most people might not think that, thinking of my size. I think it plays to our advantage, because defenders don’t know if I’m going to hold it up or if I’m going to run in behind. Hopefully we capitalize on that more throughout the rest of the year.

[My partnership with Mike Magee] is good. It’s developing. We’re always looking for each other. We’re usually involved in each other’s goals in some capacity and hopefully it translates into more goals and more assists and more chemistry.

Especially with three games in the short period of time that we had them in, I was going to have to sit some minutes. Unfortunately, [last game] was due to yellow card accumulation but the guys showed up in Kansas City, got our point on the road. It shows our depth as a team and this is probably the biggest week we’ve had all year especially in terms of results. That’s three road games in a very short span of time and we came away with seven points so these are positives to build on and hopefully they carry out throughout the rest of the year.”

Chicago Fire goalkeeper Sean Johnson

“It was just instinct. I think when it comes down to those moments, you kind of have to live in the moment. You don’t really think about it too much. You just kind of react and I just got a good jump on that side and was able to save it. I mix it up in the moment. I’ve gone left, I’ve gone right. I mix it up quite a bit so you never know. If the striker makes it difficult, which he did – it was very well struck – but I was able to get a good jump on it. I was surprised to see it bounce backwards because it was on turf. On grass it just stays put. I was lucky to have the post there. Someone was looking out for me there on that one.

This is my fifth year playing. I’ve faced a lot of penalty shots myself. I just kind of develop my own checklist I go through on the day and it’s different every day; depends on what I really think about when I wake up. Just in the moment I was able to save it. I watched it the whole way. I saw the ball the whole way. I knew it was going to take a bounce; didn’t know where it was going to go. I just got on my feet as quick as possible and I just took it off the line; turned around and took it. It’s really great.

This was huge. At a point in the season where we’ve gotten a lot of ties and we needed to really push and get over that hump. I think it really took a win like this – one that took a lot of grit and a lot of fight to really get the result. Three points and a shutout at that. I’m proud of the boys, and it’s just unfortunate to give away a PK when we worked hard. It shows the effort we put in defending and we were able to come out with a victory.

It’s bittersweet. It’s great to get the early goal, but you’ve got another 87 minutes you know the other team is going to press you to equalize, especially at home. To keep them off the scoreboard tonight was just great.

This week in general has been great for us. We’ve had a long week on the road, the entire week, and starting with Kansas City. To grind out a result on the road, and get the Open Cup win down in Atlanta – which I got to play in front of my family and friends in my hometown – is huge. Using that momentum to roll in, play the game on turf—have that experience coming in—we were able to get the job done.

It’s really great. It’s almost a sense of relief. We can’t relax yet, you know just those three points have been so evasive for so long. We’ve tied so many games. It’s very frustrating. We almost tied there at the end with the PK. We’re getting closer and closer to putting together a complete game. This game for us was great. We played well for 80-plus minutes and it’s just really grinding it out to see the game out in full. We’ll get better.

There is a ton left to play for. We had to regroup, starting with the Open Cup. We had two things to focus on: Open Cup midweek and then shift focus back to the league. It’s huge for us to get this result. We want to keep it rolling. We’ve got a lot to play for, a lot of games left, and we’ll get back to training and get better and get back to it this weekend against Philly.”

New England Revolution head coach Jay Heaps

“Tough loss. That one really hurt because I thought we had some tough decisions against us last week and I thought we responded well. Then tonight, I thought we were going to come out flying and we got punched right in the face the first two and a half minutes. We have to be better and it’s on us.

I thought that we definitely had more chances (in the second half). I thought Jerry (Bengtson) did a great job coming in and impacting the game and I thought Steve Neumann did a good job, as well. It was a little bit of a change to a 3-5-2, it helped out our attack. It would have been nice to punch one in there.

(Lee Nguyen) is one of our playmakers and someone we look to to facilitate our attack. At the same time, I thought we have enough fire power to create. Right now it’s a really tough run. We have to dig ourselves out. We have a penalty kick in the 85th minute and I thought it was well deserved. I thought it was earned. I thought we were trying and we were doing everything we could, but sometimes we’ve just got to make our stamp on the game.

I don’t have the update on Andy (Dorman) yet, but it was significant. Andy’s a tough guy, so we’ll find out more in the next couple days. In terms of Scottie (Caldwell), I thought Scottie did a great job. Scottie came in and had no warm-up time and went in and really was chomping and biting and trying to make plays.

I don’t know if there were positives in all those four (previous games), some losses were worse than others, I believe. But tonight it’s really raw right now. Going back, the subs did a nice job coming in. No one gave up, that’s for darn sure. During the penalty kick in the 86th minute with a team that’s punkered in, it’s not easy. You’re trying to probe and pick teams apart. It’s unfortunate, but you’ve got to use the positives and just keep going. You’ve got to dig even deeper now.”

New England Revolution defender Andrew Farrell

“Every time we have scored a goal first this season we’ve won. It’s tough to get scored on in the first three minutes. Our back line gave up some sloppy goals, and we need to stop that. We carried the majority of the game later on in the first half and the second half but when you make a mental mistake like that and put the whole team behind it’s really tough. Obviously, they are a team that fights a lot, they have 10 ties and that says a lot. We’ve gotten down a goal in the last couple of games, and that really needs to stop.

I thought we had some good chance. We had a few solid set pieces and the PK obviously. I thought for the second half, besides the one on one we gave them, we carried the play, but that’s soccer. We could have come away with a victory but it just wasn’t our day.

It’s soccer and this stuff happens it’s obviously very frustrating. You have the momentum and you think we are going to score but giving up that early goal was just too much. We get one there, we get four more. It wouldn’t feel as bad if we weren’t losing so many games but this one hurts a lot. We thought we were going to come out in front of our fans and give a good performance – which I thought we did – we just couldn’t find the back of the net, and I’ll take full blame for that goal.

I was in the back so I didn’t hear what they said but it happens. I mean Chris (Tierney) is a great PK taker and it was a big-time save.”